Facebook on Friday has responded to the second notice sent by the Ministry of Electronics and IT, seeking its response over the user data breach, said people familiar with the matter.

In its letter, Facebook has listed out steps taken to stop the potential misuse of data and has appointed India representative for liasoning on data breach issue.

Facebook is only allowing authorised companies and advertisers to place political advertisements, said sources.

The company is also doubling the manpower to 20,000 to control mischief and to manage the security.

To clamp down on any unauthorised use of data or manipulation, Facebook is developing systems to block automated programmes from trying to create fake accounts.

The social networking giant is also rewarding people for finding vulnerability in the site.

The government had, in end-March, sent a notice to Facebook asking whether the personal data of Indian voters and users has been compromised by the UK-based Cambridge Analytica or any other downstream entity.

A similar notice was dispatched to Cambridge Analytica following media reports that it had misused data to profile users and influence elections.

Facebook has been facing intense scrutiny from its users as well as governments across the globe after a data leak scandal hit about 87 million users.

British data analytics and political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica has been accused of harvesting personal information of millions of Facebook users illegally to help political campaigns and influence polls in several countries.

First Published:May 11, 2018 7:42 PM IST